Saturday was fun, I tossed George's saddle on and we did some "hill therapy" with cavelettis. He was like a different horse! No much brace, he moved much better, he wasn't bracy, he was physically and mentally able to walk...he was just great!
Sunday was a whole other ball game. They say to play with the horse that shows up, but sometimes, you get a new horse in the same session. I have still been having trouble getting George to accept the stick and string. When they are not attached to me then they are super-tasty chew toys, when I am holding them I am super-predator. I've started long-distance coaching with 2* Parelli Professional Linda C Richards, and she just GETS me! And George! She reccommended that I try leading George from the shoulder while swinging the stick and string in a figure eight pattern, and that would've worked if he would go within 6 feet of me while I had the stick and string. He went RB and wouldn't come out of it, so I walked my happy butt over to the fence rail and swung the stick and string there, so he could only gallop in a half-circle and I'd have something to hang on to if he decided to back out of the pressure. I made sure my belly button wasn't facing him, no matter which way he went and the second he planted his feet I stopped, faced him, and smiled. It took maybe 5 minutes until I was tossing the string over top of him, around in a helicopter, and around his legs. He wasn't totally okay with it, but he wasn't completely right-brained about it either. He just needed to stop his feet to think. Hmmm...how interesting.
After we got through that point, George went TOTALLY left brained! He became snotty, he bucked online, he perked his ears at me, watched my every move, had tons of draw, he acted instead of reacted, it was just amazing. I was dumbfounded. My whole plan went out the window and we just had fun! George is crazy-awesome! And so cute! He is just so big with such big movement, he's the reason they say go through Level 3 on the ground before getting in the saddle! As much as I'm itching to ride, and I mean I have never wanted to ride a horse so badly, I am in no hurry to get up on George. He has to really be ready and I'm not sure he is yet. And that's okay! I wish I could get rid of the stigma that the only time you can have fun with a horse is when you ride. I have a blast with horses on the ground, and I have a ton of fun with George, I know that when I start riding him then it's going to be just as much fun!
Having fun checking out what Mom did with the poles.
Realizing that I am still over here!
The look on his face when I really get the right itchy spot!
BOTH EARS!!!
*ALSO* I talked to the gal at the feed store and talked to her about a particular problem I have been having with George. The boy gets at least two flakes of hay per feeding, and eats maybe half a flake at a time. If I give him grain, he'll take a bite, then leave, then come back later when he's bored enough to eat. I would really like to put some more weight on George, at least muscle, and he needs it in his topline! This is a senior-feed grain because I want some weight on him without getting him hot, and I'm getting nothin.I had his teeth done and he still does this but has been eating more of his hay. She reccommended that I get Hi-Pro Sweet 4(I think it's called), a sweet feed that most the race-trainers around here use. The second he smelled it, he whinnied! I poured him a small amount of it while he paced the fence, then when I set it down and allowed him to come in, he devoured it! Yay! I missed in some sand-blast so clean out his system of sand and he ate it all. My good boy!
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